Wisest Approach

I had gone to the local library website and was checking on what books needed to be returned, when I came across the new Ann Coulter book, "Adios, America".  I read the snippet and the reviews and was intrigued.  But then it occurred to me.  What would be the wisest approach to reading this sort of hyper political/cultural commentary?  As is the case with reading, when we read someone who is "inside our circle", we tend to lower our guards and believe what we read, simply because we are reading something with which we probably already agree.
And the opposite is true when we are reading from someone who is "outside our circle".  We are extremely guarded and critical.  The real chore is to be guarded and critical with everything we read.
So what is the best way to approach this sort of reading?  I cannot say to what degree I agree with Ann Coulter.  Since becoming Orthodox, I have found that within the church, there is not political party.  Some of what the Republicans say is correct, some of what the Democrats say is correct, some of the Third party candidates speak the truth.  But none of them can be whole-heartedly embraced as "the answer" to America's problems.
The real answer, I believe, is that faithfulness to Christ, love of God and love of neighbor, in whatever way we can, is the answer to America's problems.  Reading the various political perspectives and opinions may be helpful, may be harmful, but overall should be done carefully and critically, no matter who you read.  Read with an open mind but filter is all through Jesus' words, "love God and love neighbor".

Run away?

In the fourth century, in the face of cultural depravity and religious mediocrity, many Christians fled to the desert, embracing monasticism as a way to draw closer to God. This was their response to a horribly sinful culture.  In addition to cultural sin, was the popularization of Christianity.  A good thing? Not necessarily.  With popularization, came a watering down and simplification of the faith. Quite quickly, it became quite easy and safe to be a Christian.
What is our response to essentially the same set of circumstances? I'm afraid that we have embraced the wave of ease, to the point of not even recognizing it.
Any thoughts?

The controlling factor

If (since) Jesus’ explanation that “love God and love neighbor” is the thing that should define our lives, does it?  If you put this approach for anything else into place and run it to its logical end, are we being faithful?  For example, if you are a basketball coach, your goal is to train your team to win games.  Sure, there are other aspects of the job, keeping your players healthy, strong, in shape, out of trouble, etc. but all of these things are for the purpose of winning games.

If you are a medical doctor, your main job is to address your patients’ health. Again, there are other aspects to the job, but all of them are for the main purpose of addressing your patients’ health.  So, when we look at our own lives, does “love God and love neighbor” act as the controlling factor?  How we spend our time, how we spend our money, how we act towards and respond to, other people.  Are our lives really just focused on making ourselves comfortable, entertained and well-fed, until we retire, when we can focus even more upon comfort and entertainment?  The form of the entertainment really doesn’t matter if that thing is not an exercise in “loving God and loving neighbor”.  Sure there may be other “benefits” to the entertainment (i.e., relaxation, exercise, mental stimulation, etc), but if that thing is not based on “loving God and loving neighbor”, we are missing the point.

Why are people happy?

Why are people happy? Or maybe a better question is, “How are people happy? Is there an objective standard by which we can identify happiness? Is there something built into the soul of man that, when met/fulfilled, will result in happiness? Or is it simply a subjective state based on what each individual decides is the goal? Should happiness even be a goal for the human? Could it be that happiness is simply a subjective state, defined by the individual that is simply a manifestation of selfishness? Are we being self-centered when we strive to be happy, as this state usually has to do with our personal comfort, or content state of mind?

I see people that, judging by the Orthodox standard of truth, should not be happy, but by all general appearances, they are. It cannot be that the presence of sin takes away the possibility of happiness, for we are all sinners, yet some people appear to be happy. It cannot be that our failure to recognize the particular sin is a factor, for there are many people who do not even recognize the reality of sin, i.e., atheists. If the onus falls upon us, that is, if we recognize the sin, we won’t be happy until that sin is dealt with, then every Christian would be perpetually unhappy and, by default, the atheist would be the genuinely happy one.

Corruption and Time

It occurred to me again (it seems like this comes up fairly regularly), that the root of corruption is time and our use of it.  Somewhere along the line (and I have a fairly well thought out understanding of this historicity), people began to live as if having more money meant that they thus had the freedom to spend their time however they pleased.  You see it all throughout history, in many different cultures.  When a culture becomes economically successful, they slowly but surely slide into corruption and depravity.  I think the reason for this is the use of time.
When someone has lots of free time, they, in most cases, begin to use it to entertain themselves.  You see it in young men who spend hours a day playing video games. Or in young women who spend hours and hours, shopping.  As we age, nothing really changes, we simply, slightly modify what it is that entertains us.  There is a reason that the entertainment industry in the US is a multi billion dollar industry.
Some of this comes from our desire to be comfortable and distracted.  Why sleep on a hard surface when you have the money to buy a big, comfy bed?  Why eat beans and rice when you can be a regular at four star restaurants with the latest and tastiest fare?  Why spend your time learning something or helping someone when you have 300+ channels of TV and the Internet?
It has to do with worldview.  The worldview that we hold will direct and control how we spend our time.  If our worldview is that of "me first", then of course we will be fat and comfortable.  But if we are motivated by "love God and love neighbor", we won't spend hundreds of hours a year distracted by bright and shiny things.
But why corruption and depravity?  Mankind was not made to be a mindless boob entertained by distraction.  We were made for community and love.  When we spend our freetime being distracted by entertainment, it will eventually get boring.  So we move onto the next exciting thing.  And eventually that mentality reaches an end.  So we dip a little further into the bizarre or perverse to bring back the excitement of being entertained.  Its called the law of diminishing returns.  When one things gets old, we move to the next.
Like using a lightbulb to pound in nails.  We may be successful for a short period of time, and with certain nails, but that is not the purpose of lightbulbs.  Man was not created to blow time on entertainment.
But to end with a thought, its about balance.  I am not calling for a new "law".  The Christian law is not about law, but love.  There is nothing wrong with watching a movie, listening to music or reading a book.  But if these things are preventing us from loving our neighbor or from helping those in need, then it is a problem. If these things are leading us into corruption and a feeding of the passions, then it is a problem.  But that is something that you, as an adult with free will and responsibility, will have to determine for yourself.  If you need help with direction, speak with your priest.

The church as joy

Something I have noticed in my many years of church attendance, is that of people's attitudes.  Many, many churches use music and words to manipulate people's emotions.  Not all, but many.  Depending on the church, this creates an expectation of one particular attitude during worship.
Some people come into church with an expression of sobriety.  Others come like they're going to the circus.  Others, indifference.
And even odder still, is the variety of responses one will receive if asked what the attitude "should" be. Again, it depends on the church. I will, hopefully, communicate the Orthodox understanding.
When you think about what it is that we are doing, about who God is and what he has done for us, the response can only be joy.  Even in the knowledge of our often sinful state, we still should be overwhelmingly joyful. I'm not taking grinning giddiness, or happy-clappy "Jesus is my buddy" kind of nonsense. I'm talking about deep down joy at the prospect of continually developing a relationship with the God who loves us. A joy that knows that no matter what, God loves us and is moving us toward holiness.  A joy that knows we no longer live under an iron fist of law, but instead an indwelling of his Holy Spirit, moving us and helping us love God and love neighbor.
Coming into a worship service should be awe-inspiring but at the same time, fulfilling, refreshing and encouraging.  Every time we worship, we are living the life that the people of God in the old covenant, only looked forward to, but could not attain.
We come into the presence of an all God who loves us. It doesn't get any better than that.

Words, in English

I came to a rather disconcerting and disappointing realization this evening.  We were driving home and my nine year old son asked my wife why she cut her hair.  She replied that she didn't, but instead had the lady at the parlor cut it.
She misunderstood his question. 
It then occurred to me.  One sentence can be spoken, with an emphasis put upon different words, and the question contained therein can have multiple different meanings. 
One can say,  "Why did you cut your hair?" with an emphasis upon "you", asking why YOU did it. Or with an emphasis upon "cut", asking why you "cut" it. Or with an emphasis upon "did", asking for the motivation behind cutting it.
This realization really bothers me, for it reveals a serious inadequacy in the English language.  Our vocabulary and grammar are far too flexible in allowing this sort of ambiguity.  We cannot simply rely on words to communicate.  We must rely on inflection and tone to sufficiently pass our meaning.
Either that or we must genuinely master our vocabulary and grammar, perfectly choosing just the right words.
Unfortunately, our culture is going in exactly the wrong direction.  We are moving away from literary articulation, actually reverting back to an image based culture, like Egypt and hieroglyphs. If you disagree, stop and look at your computer desktop.  It contains a high majority of little pictures, called icons. Unfortunately not the religious kind.
I've been working toward verbal articulation, for years now.  And just now I've figured out a justification for doing so.